In post 29648, DeathNote wrote:I just can't figure out how to play naut effectively. I may just have to give up on him.
He's probably my favorite jungler (note: not best jungler). Skill W first, pop it at 1:50 (it lasts 10 seconds). You need an okay leash for blue or it'll be a long jungle, but your AOE clear is enormous. Just don't bother with wight, 'tis a stupid camp.
Basically you either want to hard farm until 4 (W>E>W>Q) or 3 (W>E>Q) and then start ganking as much as possible. Nautilus ganks are TERRIFYING. Your general combo is Anchor - AA (roots them), when root falls off E. If you have R, you can use it in there, R just makes them die. They usually can't escape without flash or fairly ridiculous gap creators.
With Naut you want to gank high damage lanes. Bot and mid are usually your choices, top lane counter ganks can be good, but generally you just don't bring a pile of damage to a fight. Your utility is all in how insanely irritating you can be. I mean W means you can do some unexpected extra damage on autos, but it's nothing to write home about.
Mid-late game, you're transitioning into a peel/initiator. Your initiate is R. Try and land it on whoever looks like the biggest coward in the carries - you can chain it through the entire team. If you have anyone who leaps in, time your target with their leap (tell them in chat). I've seen a katarina evaporate a Jayce+Ashe before they landed from the depth charge.
After that, you are a bodyguard. You are zoning for the carries. Your AA roots, use that on any idiots who dive in (rooting a diver right near the ADC+APC can often just result in them dying). You can follow up the root by walking PAST the target, then use Q to drag them back away from the carries. Finally E can be used to allow kiting (they really should be out of gap closers).
Stats, prioritize CDR and the usual tank items. If you're getting kills or getting ahead, grab Locket or Face of the Mountain. Nautilus is impossible to build damage on, so those two items will give him some utility. Randuins, SV, obvious pickups. Don't overthink the "Bonus health" think on shield, it scales better on Armor/MR than on health, so don't go buying Warmogs.
If you can hit 40% CDR with him it's obviously amazing, but you usually need Locket or Face to do that, so you have to be ahead (screw you SV changes).
